Drainage Contractor November 2017 : Page 26

ENVIRONMENT CAPTURING NITROGEN W by AMY PETHERICK Research is establishing installation guidelines for buffer strips. hen nitrogen escapes from fields and buffer strips into watershed systems, it’s costly for everyone. New research suggests the installation of saturated buffer strips could offer a viable solution with economic merit for preventing these nitrogen losses. Tim Recker is a farmer from Arlington, IA who also owns and operates Recker Excavating Inc. The excavating company has been assisting Dan Jaynes of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) with his research on saturated buffer strips. After the successful installation of his first saturated buffer last year in August, Recker is enthusiastic about the ease of installation and the broad appeal they offer to landowners facing growing scrutiny over water quality. “What farmer doesn’t want to keep the expensive nutrients that he puts on his own ground and not send them down the river?” Recker says. Learning from Jaynes about how saturated buffers work has taught Recker that although the concept doesn’t apply everywhere, pretty much any location with a buffer strip may be a candidate for saturated buffer installation. Jaynes explains that saturated buffers do require an existing riparian buffer, or that there will soon be a new buffer installed adjacent to a stream, pond, or ditch. A proper installation will include roughly three feet of relief between the buffer and the field that’s draining into it, although Jaynes admits this can eliminate some potential sites CONTINUED ON PAGE 30 RIGHT: A saturated buffer installation requires at least one meter of relief between the field and the buffer. There was enough room, in this case, to convert a newly established riparian buffer into a saturated buffer but adequate space can be a limiting ‘retrofit’ factor. Photo courtesy of Lynn Betts. 26 DRAINAGE CONTRACTOR | NOVEMBER 2017